Visitors to the Saudi capital Riyadh note its physical resemblance to that other desert-bound oil city, Houston, Texas. Like the Texans, the Saudis also like to think big – and with billions of oil revenues flowing into state coffers, they now have the financial muscle to implement the more grandiose schemes that are being sketched out in corporate boardrooms.
The latest grand project to roll out of the architect’s studio is a masterplan to transform Riyadh into an international financial centre. In May, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced a plan for the creation of a mega financial city, the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), located on 1.6m square metres of undeveloped land close to the city centre, with around 3m square metres of office space.
